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Militants fired rockets into southern Israel on Wednesday, the army said, setting off sirens and raising tensions in the new coalition government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Early Thursday, the Israeli military said it had begun attacking targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire. According to local media, Israeli fighter jets attacked militant sites in the central Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A rocket from the Gaza Strip was intercepted, according to the military. Israel usually responds to rocket fire with airstrikes.
Local residents reported hearing an explosion. Israel’s rescue service said there were no reports of injuries except for a 50-year-old woman who jumped and fell while running to a shelter.
The action in Israeli skies on Wednesday came after the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza has threatened Israel over the aggressive stance of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has vowed to mistreat Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
From the occupied West Bank to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, many Palestinians revere the prisoners as heroes of the Palestinian cause.
Security Cabinet meeting demanded
Ben-Gvir said that recent rocket fire from Gaza will not stop him from carrying out his policy of punishment against Palestinian prisoners. He called for an urgent Security Cabinet meeting to discuss the response.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has spiked in recent days as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited with calls for calm.
An Israeli military attack on a militant stronghold in the West Bank city of Jenin last week killed nine, mostly militants. 10 Palestinians were killed in separate clashes near Jerusalem.
The following day, a shooting by Palestinian gunmen near a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem killed seven people. A separate Jerusalem shooting at the weekend by a 13-year-old Palestinian wounded two Israelis.
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